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Head of Sberbank expects blockchain technology will be introduced in Russia in 8-10 years

It was reported earlier that Sberbank joined non-profit alliance Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, engaged in research of using blockchain technology on the Ethereum platform

Head of Sberbank Herman Gref Dmitry Serebryakov/TASS

Head of Sberbank Herman Gref

© Dmitry Serebryakov/TASS

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Head of Sberbank Herman Gref expects that the introduction of the blockchain technology in Russia will take 8-10 years, he said on Thursday.

"If we talk about Russia, we have the largest number of implemented projects concerning blockchain. Although, they are all in the experimental mode. We are experimenting a lot. Maybe in 2018 we will be able to introduce some products on a large scale. The blockchain technology is one of our tricks. I estimate the implementation horizon of the technology in 8-10 years," Gref said.

Earlier Gref believes that commercial implementation of the Ethereum platform will take another 1-2 years. "So far we have implemented 15 different projects, but they are still experimental in nature. Tthe technology is not yet ready for commercial implementation, it will take another year, maybe a year and a half or two, so that we can start using it," Gref said in an interview with Rossiya 24 TV channel.

It was reported earlier that Sberbank joined non-profit alliance Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, engaged in research of using blockchain technology on the Ethereum platform.

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"Sberbank’s joining the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance is an important stage in achieving the goals on our technology agenda. This membership implies for us access to cutting-edge developments and international expertise in terms of distributed ledger technologies," First Deputy Chairman of Sberbank’s Executive Board Lev Khasis said.

Sberbank is the first Russian bank to join the alliance, Sberbank press service said.

EEA was established in February 2017 to evolve Ethereum into an enterprise-grade technology. The alliance unites major international companies like CME Group, Credit Swiss, DTCC, ING, JPMorgan, Santander, UBS, Accenture, Deloitte, Intel, Microsoft. High-tech start-ups and scientific and research organizations are also members of the alliance. EEA creates innovative technologies that will help companies ensure a new level of data confidentiality and enable security and scalability.

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